Chrysler Says Four Plants to Skip Midyear Output Breaks

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler Group LLC, the biggest gainer
of U.S. market share through April, said four plants will skip
normally scheduled two-week midyear shutdowns to meet increased
demand.

Factories in Belvidere, Illinois; Toluca, Mexico; and
Detroit, and a parts factory in Toledo, Ohio, will stay open,
the company said today in a statement on its website. Two more
plants will shut for one week instead of two, according to
Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler.

“We need to build a few more vehicles, so they’re staying
open,” Jodi Tinson, a company spokeswoman, said in a phone
interview. All plants took at least one week off in mid-2011 for
“summer shutdown,” which automakers usually schedule for
maintenance, renovations, or tooling changes and to prepare
factories to make new model-year vehicles.

Chrysler’s Belvidere assembly plant makes Jeep Compass and
Patriot sport-utility vehicles and is preparing to build Dodge
Dart compact cars, according to the company’s website. Toluca
manufactures the Dodge Journey and Fiat Freemont crossovers and
Fiat 500 small car. Jefferson North assembly in Detroit builds
the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs, according to the
website.

The two plants shutting for one week are in Sterling
Heights, Michigan, and Saltillo, Mexico. Those factories make
the Chrysler 200, Dodge Avenger and Lancia Flavia cars, as well
as Ram pickups.

Chrysler deliveries climbed 33 percent in the first four
months of this year to 539,216, according to researcher Autodata
Corp. The company, which builds more than half of its vehicles
in the U.S., boosted worldwide shipments by 25 percent in the
first quarter, according to an April 26 earnings presentation.